Books of Historic Impact
- Soil erosion a national menace. byWashington, U. S. Govt. print. off., 1928.
Bennett, one of the first U.S. officials to anticipate the threat posed to the food supply by soil erosion, wrote this pamphlet. He was invited to testify before a House of Representatives committee, and his speech inspired the creation of the Soil Erosion Service of the Department of the Interior.
Some of these books and journals may also be available in earlier or later editions. Check the catalog for more information.
- The composite wheat variety. byNew York, Rockefeller Foundation, Office of Publications, 1958.
A confidential report for the Rockefeller Foundation, this document details experimentation eventually leading to the Green Revolution, for which Borlaug received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970. The Green Revolution has received both praise for saving millions of people from starvation and criticism for aggravating environmental deterioration due to the increased need for agrochemicals. - Origin of cultivated plants. byNew York, D. Appleton, 1886. [2d American ed.]
Swiss botanist Candolle, considered the father of phytogeography, wrote this early treatise on the geographic origins of plants and their spread. He inspired explorers and plant breeders such as N.I. Vavilov. - Hunger fighters, illustrated by Zadig. byNew York, Harcourt, Brace and company, 1928. An example of popular science writing from the 1920s, this books describes agricultural discoveries in the areas of crop prospecting, plant breeding, livestock raising and nutrition. An online version is available from https://catalog.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=2846620&DB=local
- Experiments in Plant Hybridization. Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society new series 26: 3-32, 1901/2. byThe first published English translation of Mendel's key paper outlining the inheritance of physical traits. This publication includes an introductory note by W. Bateson, who helped to revive Mendel's publications fifteen years after the latter's death.
- The Vavilov affair; with a foreword by Andrei Sakharov. byHamden, Conn. : Archon Books, 1984.
Not a scientific text itself, this book was written by journalist Popovskii, who accessed KGB records at considerable risk to himself. It exposes the persecution conducted against the plant geneticist N.I. Vavilov by Stalin's scientific ally, T.D. Lysenko, resulting in Vavilov's death. Vavilov's institute was crushed and hundreds of thousands of plant specimens destroyed. - The conquest of arid America. byNew York, MacMillan,1905. (New and rev. ed.)
This book, first published in 1899, urged Americans to fight drought through irrigation and the appropriate placement of dams. Technology would enable Americans to settle the West and prosper. This work influenced public opinion, leading to the creation of the Bureau of Reclamation. A slightly later printing is available online from https://catalog.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=5546018&DB=local - Studies on the origin of cultivated plants ... byLeningrad, 1926.
Vavilov was a brilliant botanist, geneticist and agronomist, who headed the All-Union Institute of Plant Breeding in Leningrad. He theorized that the original locations where crops were created would be the most useful places to look for variants with valuable characteristics which could be used in plant breeding. He voyaged to remote locations all over the world, creating a treasure trove of specimens in the Soviet Union. - New creations in plant life : an authoritative account of the life and work of Luther Burbank. byPublication Date: New York ; London : Macmillan, 1905.A biography of Luther Burbank, the pioneer plant breeder. Also available electronically via https://catalog.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=3055816&DB=local
- How plants are trained to work for man. 8 volumes. byPublication Date: New York, P. F. Collier & Son Co. [c1921]Luther Burbank, by cross-pollinating the flowers of plants, developed over 800 strains and varieties of plants, including the Shasta Daisy, a variant of the Russet Burbank Potato, and many plums and peaches. His work led the way to the 1930 Plant Patent Act, which made it possible to patent new varieties of plants. Also available electronically via https://catalog.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=7224635&DB=local
- Inbreeding and outbreeding : their genetic and sociological significance. byPublication Date: Philadelphia ; London : J. B. Lippincott Company, [1919]East was an American plant geneticist, whose experiments led to the development of hybrid corn. He worked at determining and controlling the protein and fat content of corn, in order to make it more useful as animal feed. Also available electronically via https://catalog.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=2838957&DB=local
- The hybrid-corn makers : prophets of plenty. byPublication Date: New Brunswick [N.J.] : Rutgers University Press, 1947.Crabb worked as a journalist in Illinois, specializing in agricultural topics. This book describes the work of plant geneticist Edward Murray East, as well as the corn breeding experiments of Henry Agard Wallace, who later became US Secretary of Agriculture.
- Feeding the people in war-time. byPublication Date: London, Macmillan and co., limited, 1940.A book about the food supply in Great Britain during World War II.
- As I recall. byPublication Date: Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, 1967 [c1966]John Boyd Orr was a Scottish doctor and nutrition researcher who promoted better societal distribution of food. He eventually became the first Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN and won a Nobel Peace Prize.
- Silent spring. byPublication Date: Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1962.Rachel Carson’s book bought the danger of synthetic pesticides to public attention. It led to a US ban on DDT and other pesticides, and inspired a grassroots environmental movement which led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency.